The Garden of France
by StellarDust2K
Summary: Vidia & Prilla investigate a mystery in the Loire Valley, but one of our heroes runs into trouble.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.

Author's Note: Here we go on another Vidia & Prilla mission. This time it's trouble in France.

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* * *

**The Garden of France** - Chapter 1 - The Loire Valley Mystery

"Crown me!" shouted Prilla with glee. She did an aerial back-flip over the draughts board ("checkers" for North Americans) then hovered, smiling at her opponent with her hands on her hips.

Katie, an 8-year-old human girl, couldn't understand the jingling fairy speech, but she reached for an off-board piece and stacked it on Prilla's piece. "You're getting too good at this Prilla." she admitted, looking slightly worried. "I'm going to have to find another game." She studied the board, looking for her next move.

Katie was grateful for Prilla's company as she recovered from a bout of rubella. Common diseases could be lonely times for children, as even adults were reluctant to linger for fear of catching it themselves. Prilla had also watched Katie struggle through the miseries of chicken pox and mumps, and was thoroughly glad fairies didn't have ordeals like that.

While Katie was still considering her move, Prilla heard a voice call her name. She lifted the crystal pendant from her chest, and answered "Hello, Pixie Hollow. What's new?"

The fairy image in the small crystal plate didn't reflect Prilla's cheer, but said "Queen Clarion would like to meet with you and Vidia in her... dark room."

"Alright. I'll be there shortly." Prilla looked up to see Katie watching her.

"Is it time for you to go?" asked Katie. Prilla nodded to her. "Maybe next time I'll be well enough to make some treats for us." Katie gave a small smile. Prilla waved goodbye to her, and vanished.

* * *

Prilla Apparated into a rarely seen corridor of the Pixie Dust Tree near an ornate door, where she saw Vidia leaning against the wall with her arms folded and looking bored.

"When did you get here?" Prilla assumed her mode of travel was much faster than Vidia's.

"A half-hour ago."

"You _did not_." Prilla objected.

"Okay then, a half-minute ago." Vidia gave a sly smile.

"Why didn't you go in?"

Vidia scowled at the ornate door. "I'd rather wait out here, staring at the walls, than wait in there, staring at the walls." Prilla knocked on the door.

"Come in." came Queen Clarion's muffled voice from inside. They entered the darkened room, closed the door behind them, and sat near the oval table with the pixie dust flowing over it. Even in the dim light of the dust it was obvious their queen was looking weary.

"I've found 2 fairy colonies." Clarion told them. Prilla's wings gave a little buzz of excitement. "In France, and they're very close to each other." Prilla smiled at the news, and Vidia seemed to have an air of anticipation. Clarion turned her attention to the dust on the table, hands cupping the glowing crystal before her.

They watched ghostly pixie dust images of flight from the south coast of England, over a stretch of water, then rapidly inland until the view slowed near a large river. "One colony is just north of this river, the other just south." Clarion explained. The view continued south over a forest, then dipped toward a huge tree. They saw fairies flitting about the tree, chatting and attending to their chores.

"Now for the _bad_ news." Clarion stated. Vidia's eyes flicked to her, but Clarion was focused on the image. The view lifted, and proceeded north across the river to another forest, and once again dipped toward a huge tree. "I've spent days trying to figure out what's going on here." Her voice revealed her exhaustion.

This community was much different from the previous, with almost no activity and few fairies about. "Pixie dust production seems to have stopped." Clarion continued. "Fairies at camps in northern France are grounded." The view glided through the main entrance in the tree. Clutter and rubble were everywhere. They heard hammering and crunching noises. A massive cone-like growth filled a large portion of the interior space, and a small group of fairy-sized trolls were chiseling pieces from it, then smashing & grinding the bits into powder.

"The queen has fled this colony, and taken refuge in the southern colony." Clarion's voice trembled. "Everyone is talking about "red dust", and "fairy distemper"." The view glided out through the entrance and across the courtyard.

Vidia sat up suddenly. "Wait! Are those fairies? ...In cages?"

"Yes." Clarion sighed. The pixie dust dropped to the table as she looked up. "I don't want you to feel compelled to go. This mission could be dangerous. Do you think you could contact the southern colony?"

Prilla glanced at Vidia, who gave a small nod. "I think we could handle that." declared Prilla.

* * *

Clarion, Vidia and Prilla stood looking at a large map which had been rolled out on a meeting room table. It showed southern England, the Channel, and the northern half of France. Clarion had placed 2 small tree carvings on the map: One just north of the Loire River, and one just south.

"It's about 300 miles from the south of England to this river. I don't want you flying into the northern colony." Clarion told them. "It's too dangerous right now. Just see if you can find out what's going on from the southern colony; if there's any way we can help." Vidia spotted their gear on the end of the table, and the 2 fairies hopped over to pick it up. Belts, tethers, goggles & hairnets for long-range flying, field glasses, compasses, new map books, extra pixie dust, and their carry-bags.

"Prilla, you'll notice there are 2 Letters of Introduction. One is for the southern queen, and one for the northern." Prilla slid them carefully into her bag, then picked up the decorative crystal communication plate. "There is only one communication plate, for the southern queen. I'll send one for the northern queen if... I mean, _when_ her troubles are sorted out."

The 2 fairies slung their bags over shoulders as Clarion glided near. "When do you think you'll arrive there?" she asked. Vidia and Prilla glanced at each other.

"We should probably get some lunch." Vidia commented.

"Then we could jump straight to one of our camps or bases on the south coast." added Prilla.

"I'd say no later than mid-afternoon." finished Vidia.

"Good." Clarion smiled weakly. "I could really use a nap. I'll make sure I'm up when you meet the queens." Her smile faded. "Be very careful. If things go badly wrong, stay there and let them take care of you. We'll make arrangements to get you back."

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.

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**The Garden of France** - Chapter 2 - A Pair of Queens

Vidia and Prilla left the Dartmoor Fairy Camp after donning their flight gear, and were over the English Channel in minutes. It was fair flying weather; lots of cloud cover, but no rain or wind. At 15 minutes, they were over the Channel Islands of Guernsey, then Jersey. Prilla waved at the cows, who were too busy munching to notice high-speed fairies overhead. Ten minutes later they passed the Basse-Normandie coast, heading inland.

The French landscape was very much as they were used to in England; gentle hills, streams, farm fields, roads, and towns. After almost 45 minutes in the air, Vidia dropped her wind-fold over a large forest, and they hovered while checking the map book. "Hey, we're getting better at this!" cried Prilla.

"The northern colony's Pixie Dust Tree should be just ahead." Vidia agreed, as she pulled off her goggles, hairnet, and belt-tethers.

Prilla did the same, and stashed them in her carry-bag. "We're on the continent! Isn't this exciting?"

"Not too exciting, I hope." Vidia eyed her warily. "Let's have a look at the northern colony's Tree." She grabbed Prilla's wrist for the double-grip.

"But Queen Clarion said we shouldn't..."

"We're just going to circle." Vidia dragged Prilla along. The Pixie Dust Tree looked quiet. They glided down to 200 feet, then spotted 3 glowing-red fairies rising toward them like angry wasps. Each one carried a long stick, pointed on one end and hooked on the other. Vidia increased her speed as Prilla peeked nervously behind.

"They don't look very pleased to see us." was Prilla's anxious comment.

"Yeah, enough of this nonsense." decided Vidia. She turned south and lit-up her wind-fold for a few seconds; just long enough to put the red fairies a half-mile behind them.

They continued south at normal flying speed, crossed the Loire River, and soon found the southern colony's Pixie Dust Tree. Once again, they circled while descending, but this colony looked as everyday as Pixie Hollow. No one seemed to even notice as they landed in the courtyard before the Tree's main entrance.

"I'll never get tired of this." said Prilla, as she turned in wonder at the busy fairies, the beautiful village they had built for themselves, and their Pixie Dust Tree.

"Shall we invite ourselves in?" Vidia indicated the tree's main entrance. They marched up the steps and into the opulent interior. After a bit of wandering, they discovered a large meeting hall near the back. Inside they found a cluster of fairies surrounding the pair of queens.

"Oh, just a minute Vidia." Prilla dug into her carry-bag and pulled out the crystal viewing plate. "Are you there, Queen Clarion?"

Clarion moved into view with a hand covering a yawn. "I'm here Prilla."

Prilla swung the plate around to show her the crowd nearby. "We've found the queens, and we're about to meet them."

"Very good, Prilla."

Prilla slid the crystal plate back into her bag, and pulled out the Letters. The 2 fairies stepped to the edge of the crowd, which seemed to be continually shifting, and slowly nudged their way forward. All the while, they heard reports & requests from numerous fairies to the queens. Most of it was routine daily stuff, but some concerned recent catastrophic events and plans about them. Prilla could tell Vidia was getting stressed in the crowd. Several times Prilla was about to present themselves, when a local fairy stepped in front to announce some tedious bit of detail.

"Excuse me!" Prilla raised her voice to the queens, as she nudged the fairy in front of her to one side. She finally had their attention, and bowed low to them. "Which of Your Highnesses is queen of this colony?"

"C'est moi. I am Queen Sophie of Pictone." answered the one with the crown. Indicating the other queen, she said "This is Queen Clémence of Armorica." With measured courtesy she asked "Are you from Belgica?"

Prilla glanced at Vidia. "No."

"Lingone? Aquitane? Volcae?" Prilla replied "no" to each.

"We're from Neverland." This drew murmurs from the crowd and surprised looks from the queens. "These Letters should explain everything." She handed a scroll to each queen. While they read the letters, Prilla pulled out the crystal plate and turned it so Clarion could watch.

When the queens lifted their heads, Prilla presented the plate to Queen Sophie. Clarion spoke with the 2 elated queens for a few minutes, exchanging salutations, news of the recent troubles, and concerns for the northern colony.

"We have plans to send a scout into Armorican territory," Sophie mentioned, "But it appears you have information that we do not." She looked up to the fairies around her, and called "Angéle?".

"Here, Your Highness." a summoning-talent buzzed up.

"Find Grégoire and introduce him to our Neverland ambassadors."

Angéle paused before Prilla & Vidia, saying "I shall return momentanément.", then buzzed away. Daily business ground to a halt, as the fairies in the crowd began excitedly asking questions of Prilla and Vidia. They answered as best they could, until Angéle returned with a sparrow-man scout-talent.

"Pardon! Pardon, fairies!" He put himself between the Neverland fairies and the locals. "Enough questions for now. We have business to discuss." He gently ushered Vidia and Prilla away from the crowd. "My apologies, mademoiselles." he spoke to them, "We rarely see foreign visitors." He stopped and turned to them. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Grégoire of Armorica, scout extraordinaire." He bowed with a small flourish.

"Vidia of Neverland, fast-flyer extraordinaire." She gave a slight bow and hand-swish.

"Prilla of Neverland, um... fairy-colony-visitor extraordinaire." She curtsied and grinned.

"I have never heard of this talent." Grégoire looked puzzled.

"I'm the only one."

"So you're from the north colony?" Vidia asked, as they began walking again.

"Armorica, oui." he sighed. "There are many of us here in Pictone."

Vidia scowled slightly. "What exactly is going on there?"

Grégoire gazed into the distance and hesitated before speaking. "Five weeks ago, our village was as you see here, then the evil magic came."

* * *

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Author's Post Note:

I didn't bother thinking up names for the French colony villages. You already have 2 fairy territory names to keep track of, plus some new characters.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.

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* * *

**The Garden of France** - Chapter 3 - Prilla's Phobia

"Evil magic?" echoed Prilla.

"Well," Grégoire hand-shrugged "That is what some are saying. A few fairies turned red and caught distemper, then more and more. The evil spread to our pixie dust, and the village fell into madness. Our Queen Clémence and her Ministers fled here to our sister colony, to escape the evil. Since then, we have watched and waited."

"What happened to all your fairies?" asked Vidia.

"Many of them are free of the red dust, and cured of distemper. The rest..." Grégoire indicated a large building ahead; the local fairy hospital. They entered, and Grégoire spoke to one of the healing-talents.

She glanced at Vidia and Prilla with surprise, then said "Mais oui."

As they followed the healing-talent along the wide corridor, Grégoire told them "Some of them made it across the river, asking for help. Some we chased & caught, and some we picked up unconscious in the forest on reconnaissance missions." They walked through double-doors into a large ward, lined on either side with bed after bed of sick fairies.

"This is but one of our wards with fairies recovering from distemper." explained the healing-talent. Prilla's wings dropped. She had never seen so many sick fairies. It was like all of Pixie Hollow had fallen ill. She crept up close behind Vidia. "Once we scrub the red dust from them, they are no longer contagious, but they still have this type of distemper."

As they continued walking the center aisle, Prilla gaped in fright at healing-talents tending to bed-ridden fairies sweating & shivering, delirious, and others too weak to feed themselves. She accidentally stepped on Vidia's heels.

Vidia flipped her head around in annoyance, and snapped "Pril.", but then noticed Prilla's meek demeanor, and her wings down.

The healing-talent slowed near another set of double-doors, and entered more cautiously. On the other side of the doors, was a small area separated from the smaller ward beyond by a gossamer-fine mesh of woven spider silk, strong as tent canvas, but almost transparent.

"This mesh keeps the contagion in there." the healing-talent told them. "These are the ones we have not cleaned up yet. They shall join the others soon."

The group stood, viewing the dozens of beds beyond the mesh. Each one held a fairy tied down, immobile. Some had patches of red dust on them, others were mostly covered in it. A number of the fairies were sleeping, but the awake ones displayed strange behavior: Yammering about needing to get home while struggling against their bonds, or sobbing & apologizing endlessly, or chattering to themselves about conspiracies. Prilla tried to hide behind Vidia, but caught the soulful gaze of a nearby red-dust victim.

"May I have some pixie dust?" the bed-trussed fairy begged. "Please? Just a little. I'll be your friend..."

Vidia felt Prilla crowding her wings and turned, asking "Prilla, what's wrong?"

Prilla's hands worried a frill on the front of her dress as she peered anxiously at the red-dust fairies. In a tiny voice she asked "Can we go?"

"Certainement." replied Grégoire. The 3 quickly made their way out of the building. Prilla fluttered her wings and breathed deeply the fresh air & sunlight of the village. "May I interested anyone in supper?" Grégoire suggested.

"Alright." smiled Prilla.

* * *

As they sat awaiting their meals, Grégoire asked "How is cuisine in Neverland?"

"We can't complain." Vidia answered. Prilla nodded enthusiastically.

"You must tell me how it compares with ours." Grégoire smiled as the serving-talent returned with their meals. After presenting the dishes she hesitated, staring at the 2 girls.

Prilla smiled warmly at her, saying "Thank you."

"Bon appétit." she responded, and quickly glided back to the kitchen.

"Oh, this is good." Prilla muttered to herself after sampling the first bite.

"Why does everyone look at us like that?" Vidia asked.

"Well," Grégoire gave a slight smile, "Neverland is a myth. A legend. Something that fairies talk about to pass idle time."

"We're just as real as you." Prilla asserted.

"I can see that."

A crash of doors caught the attention of Grégoire and Vidia, but Prilla's back was to the kitchen. There, hovered a cooking-talent with a tray of dishes at her shoulder, scanning the dining room.

"Oh, non." Grégoire looked down, hiding his face behind his hand. "Don't look." he instructed Vidia. "Just ignore her." He peeked between his fingers as the cooking-talent glided toward them.

"What..?" Prilla studied Grégoire and Vidia, wondering what was going on behind her. "Hey!" she cried as the cooking-talent pulled her dinner plate out of reach, then dropped the serving tray in front of Prilla with a _klunk_.

"Not now Mélissa, we are having an important discussion." Grégoire told her.

Mélissa scooped a generous spoonful of appetizer and held it under Prilla's nose, demanding "Here, taste!" Prilla obeyed, and was rewarded with... mouse-gruyère-topped onion soup. Baby Spanish onions, red onions, chives, leeks, and scallions. Slow cooked for hours, with splashes of cider, and balsamic vinegar.

"Mmmm." was all Prilla could manage to express.

Mélissa forked up some main course from a plate, thrust it near Prilla's mouth, and insisted "Taste, taste!" Prilla tried the forkful... a savory galette. Sliced cherry & grape tomatoes, with a bed of mouse-manchego cheese, on a crème fraîche pastry base, and sprinkled with a garnish of micro-greens, olive oil, red-wine vinegar, and salt.

"Mmm-mmm." Prilla tried to smile while chewing.

"Mélissa, these are visiting ambassadors from Neverland." protested Grégoire. "Let them have their dignity."

Mélissa ignored him and scooped a spoonful of dessert at Prilla's mouth. "How is it? Good? Taste this!" The icy coolness of a strawberry sorbet... but as the small ice particles melted in Prilla's mouth, they popped open with tiny crackling noises that only Prilla could hear, releasing a chocolate-mint flavor.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm." Prilla moaned, while flapping her hands like chicken wings.

Mélissa picked up her tray, slid Prilla's original meal back in place, declaring "Merci!" and vanished back to the kitchen.

"Aww." Prilla looked down at her plate with mild disappointment.

Vidia gazed toward the kitchen doors. "Hey, can I try some of that?"

"I am sorry about this." Grégoire grimaced in chagrin. "She probably just wanted to meet you."

* * *

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Author's Post Note:

The character of Mélissa was inspired by some of "Hatter and Hare Productions" stories (on this fanfiction site).

I "borrowed" the onion soup and galette recipes from the Internet, with minor adjustments for fairies. Just search for "5-onion French soup" and "crème fraîche galette with heirloom tomatoes". The sorbet, I made up.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.

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**The Garden of France** - Chapter 4 - A Night Expedition

When they finished their meals, the fairies continued talking. Without mentioning Clarion's viewing table, the 2 Neverland fairies told Grégoire what they had seen inside his Pixie Dust Tree, and their experience on the way to Pictone.

"C'est bizarre." commented Grégoire. "Fairies in cages, you say?" He considered for a moment. "I am to do reconnaissance there tonight."

"We heard." responded Vidia.

"This means cloaked, and no flying. I prefer to work alone, but perhaps I could use some assistance."

Prilla gave Vidia a worried look. "Queen Clarion said we shouldn't..."

"She didn't want us _flying_ into Armorica; she said nothing about walking." Vidia looked to Grégoire. "I'll go." Prilla viewed them with concern.

* * *

After stashing their carry-bags, Vidia and Prilla flew north through the forest with Grégoire. They were surprised to find the forest's outer edge only a few hundred feet from the Pictone Pixie Dust Tree.

"I could swear the Pictone village was miles into the forest." Vidia claimed.

"Why did they put their village so close to the humans?" Prilla asked.

"You must have come in over the tree-tops." Grégoire grinned. "The fairy villages move around in the forest. No humans or predators can find us, but it is funny to watch them try."

Though they were out of the forest, they still had a mile of human territory to cross. They zipped over a small river bordered by trees, flew over crop fields, and followed a line of trees through a human community until they reached a narrow strip of trees on the south bank of the Loire River. Grégoire led them to a scout guard station, and introduced them to the scouts on duty. He explained that many more guard stations had been set up since the red-dust problem began.

They passed the evening hours looking across the river and chatting about their 3 fairy colonies, until the sun set and the sky turned dark. Grégoire dug into the station supplies, producing 3 dark cloaks and 3 odd-looking bamboo-and-cord devices.

After they pulled on the cloaks, Grégoire brandished the stick device, "The tinkers came up with these. Compact, easy to carry, and..." He unclipped the cord and extended the 2-piece bamboo rod in one smooth motion. "Quick to set up, for capturing red-dust fairies." The resulting tool was a 7-inch pole with a snare-loop on the far end. He retracted the pole, re-clipped the cord, and slung it across himself.

"How do we get across the river?" Prilla look into the darkness, lit only by a first quarter moon.

"We have a pet." Grégoire smiled as he put on a back-pack. "Follow me." He took them to the water's edge, then made a peculiar tooting noise. Almost a minute passed, with Vidia and Prilla seeing & hearing nothing, until a small toot came from the water in front of them. It was a black swan. Grégoire jumped onto the swan's back, and the girls followed.

"This is Moonflower." Grégoire stroked the swan's long neck, as the bird began its paddle to the far shore. "A rare black swan. She escaped from captivity a few years ago, and we have been taking care of her, but she is lonely for others of her kind."

"I've seen black swans in England." Vidia exchanged glances with Prilla.

"A little town on the south coast of Devon." Prilla agreed. "We can talk with those swans when we get back."

"I think Moonflower would like that." Grégoire flashed a smile, then became serious. "Now, have either of you done any fairy running?"

"I have," Vidia told him, "But I wasn't wearing a cloak. I had my wings to stabilize me."

"I've done some running, too." Prilla offered.

"Not like this, Pril." Vidia gave an odd smile, and looked to Grégoire.

"You know that fairies can adjust their buoyancy and mass for flying, right?" he addressed Prilla.

"I guess so." Prilla wondered what that had to do with running.

"Well, using those techniques, fairies can run with 2 and 3-foot strides. We can run in a straight line almost as fast as a rabbit. We can also jump and climb like a squirrel, but that takes more practise." They all became quieter as the swan paddled around a sandbar and the north shore approached. They couldn't have chosen a better way to cross the river. Moonflower was quick, silent and virtually invisible in the dark. The fairies heard only the creak of frogs and the trill of night insects.

"I know these woods." Grégoire spoke softly to them. "Watch where I go and follow me. Stay alert, there could be red-dust fairies anywhere." They hopped ashore, and Grégoire turned to the swan. "Stay on this side of the river, Moonflower. We should be back in less than 3 hours." The swan gave a quiet toot.

"Ready?" he asked the girls, and got nods. Grégoire, then Vidia, then Prilla bounded into the forest with 1-foot strides. Prilla caught-on quickly, though she would have preferred running in daylight; it was so dark, she could barely tell where her feet were landing. The strip of forest on this side of the river was wider, but after crossing a highway, they soon reached human crop fields, where Grégoire paused for a moment.

"We can go faster through here." he told them. "Watch for owls." They started across the fields, and Prilla stretched out to 2-foot strides to follow. She was sure she spotted a field mouse or 2. Up ahead, Grégoire took a tall jump through slats in a fence, then Vidia. Prilla tried, but came up a bit low. She caught the fence slat and scrambled over.

Grégoire was standing on the other side, with Vidia. "Come on Prilla, keep up."

"You're both tall & lanky." she protested, "I'm not."

"Not far now." Grégoire told them. "The forest is just behind these human houses. Watch for dogs and cats." They crossed a road, ran between the houses, and were into the relative safety of the forest. They stayed closer together, moving in short bursts, with a zig-zag pattern. Once, they heard noises to one side, but Grégoire assured them it was a deer. The forest thinned as they approached a huge tree, glowing red from inside.

"Wait here until I return." Grégoire whispered to the girls. He was gone for several minutes while they watched for movements in the eerily quiet fairy village. When he returned, he whispered "I cannot find any guards, but I found your cages. Let us have a closer look."

* * *

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Author's Post Note:

It occurred to me that fairy running could be like parkour (free running).


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.

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**The Garden of France** - Chapter 5 - Freedom and Misfortune

As they crept near the cages, Grégoire pulled out his snare-staff. There were 5 cages in a row, but only 3 had occupants, sleeping on the dirt-covered floors. Grégoire reached in through the bars with his staff, gently poked an exposed foot, and whispered "Wake up." The fairy stirred, and looked toward her next cell-mate. Grégoire retracted his snare-staff, whispering "Over here."

The fairy peered at the shadowy figures crouched outside the cages. "Who is it?" she asked quietly.

"Grégoire. And friends."

"Grégoire?" the fairy shifted toward them, awake and full of hope. "C'est Charnière. Can you get us out? Two of us escaped this afternoon, so now we are shackled." She moved a leg with a chain on it. "There should be tools in the tinker shop."

"What do you need?"

"Saws, files, chisels, hammers... anything you can find."

"No, we cannot be making noise. Isn't there a quieter way?"

"I can get them out." Prilla spoke up.

"How?" whispered Grégoire.

Prilla moved next to the bars, and reached in. "Give me your hand." Prilla pulled back her hood to show her face. "Look at me." In the blink of an eye, Prilla and the tinker Apparated 10 inches away; free of the cage.

"How did you do that?" Grégoire gasped.

"That's Prilla's _real_ talent." Vidia told him, with a smug smile.

Prilla repeated the performance for Édouard, the dust-keeper sparrow-man in the next cage, but Godet the sewing-talent in the third cage wasn't co-operating. Even with her companions reaching into the cage and encouraging her, she kept looking from them to the red glow in the Pixie Dust Tree. Grégoire and Vidia snuck around behind her, gave her a shove with their snare-staffs, and Prilla had her out.

"What is wrong with her?" asked Grégoire.

"Godet has not said a word since she was captured." the dust-keeper told them. "She does only what she is told."

With assurances that there were no other caged fairies in the Armorican village, Grégoire decided it was time to head back. The tinker, dust-keeper, and sewing-talent hadn't any pixie dust in weeks, so the group's speed was as fast as they could coax the sewing-talent along.

"Why were you in those cages?" Grégoire asked them.

"The red-dust fairies lock us up at night." Charnière told him. "During the day, they make us cut and grind the red pixie dust for them."

"We saw trolls doing that." Vidia blurted out.

"Trolls? Non. The red-dust fairies may have distemper, but they are not idiots. They forced Godet to sew us protective suits, so we stay healthy little workers for them."

"They will go crazy when they find we are gone." Édouard laughed.

"We are not gone yet." Grégoire grumbled as they reached the edge of the forest, behind the human houses. "I wish I had thought to bring some pixie dust. You would be flying targets, but at least we would make faster progress."

Prilla exchanged glances with Vidia. "We have pixie dust."

"What?" Grégoire smiled. "You Neverland fairies always surprise me. May we beg some from you?"

"Of course." Prilla pulled her 2 dust bags from under her clothing, and Vidia produced one. Charnière and Édouard showered themselves, then dumped a bag over Godet. She smiled and watched the golden dust fall past her palms.

"This should work." Grégoire sounded happier. "Stay close to us. Fly low, and keep a grip on Godet. We don't need anyone flying into trouble." With that, Grégoire, Vidia and Prilla were on the run, with the other 3 fairies flying low behind them. They made good time past the human houses, across the road, over the crop fields, and across the highway.

In the woods near the river, the pace slowed for Grégoire, Vidia and Prilla, as they leapt over & around roots and dead-fall. The 3 flying fairies rose to 7 feet above the forest floor, an instinctive habit all fairies do to avoid animals who might jump and snap. None of them, in the air or on the ground, saw the menace crouching in the darkness on a branch 2 feet off the ground.

Vidia heard a thump & crunch of sticks behind her as Prilla cried out. Thrashing noises continued as Prilla yelped "Get off!"

Vidia turned to say "Prilla, stay qui...", then she saw Prilla struggling under a red-dust fairy.

"Dust! Give me your dust!" the red-dust fairy wrestled with Prilla, trying to shake pixie dust from her.

Vidia was frozen, unsure what to do, as Grégoire jumped past her with his snare-staff ready. The 3 flying fairies landed, and Charnière snatched Vidia's staff from her back. Godet cowered away from the group, near a tree.

"Hold her, Prilla!" Grégoire shouted as he flipped his snare over the red fairy's neck. Charnière got her snare over a foot, and they pulled apart. "Crawl out, Prilla." Grégoire directed. Vidia finally had a plan. She jumped in close to the red fairy and snatched Prilla's snare-staff from the ground, being careful not to touch any red dust. She snagged the red fairy's second foot, and held on.

"Good." Grégoire commented. "Now turn her onto her front." They maneuvered the struggling red fairy over. "Prilla, lay your cloak over her." They then rolled the red fairy onto her back. "Prilla, use the cords on the outside of the cloak to tie her up. Good & tight, we don't want her getting loose."

Prilla almost enjoyed trussing up this fairy who assaulted her. When she was done, the red fairy was tied up in a neat package, ready for transporting. They pulled the snares off her.

Prilla stood next to the tied red fairy, brushing at the red dust patches on herself. "What's going to happen to me?" she asked Grégoire, "I'll be alright, won't I?" Vidia watched Charnière and Édouard behind Prilla sadly shaking their heads "no".

"You'll be fine." Vidia told her.

"We should get all the pixie dust off of you." Grégoire told her. "That will limit the red-dust spread. Everyone grab a fern and help whisk it off her." Moments later, Prilla was the center of an outlandish ritual with a ring of fairies flailing the pixie dust from her with leaves.

"Shake your hair, Prilla." Vidia suggested, "And brush the dust from your clothes."

"Ow!" Prilla cried. Some of those ferns stung. When they finished, Prilla looked like she'd been through a storm, but she still had patches of red on her.

"I am sorry, Prilla." Grégoire expressed regret, "This is my fault, I should have spotted the red fairy."

"None of us did." Édouard admitted. "We only saw her when she moved."

Charnière and Édouard picked up the red fairy, and the group continued on foot the short distance to the river. Grégoire made the odd tooting noise to summon the black swan, as Prilla rubbed at the red patches on her.

"Maybe they'll wash off." Prilla waded into the water to her waist, and splashed & rubbed at the patches.

"We don't have a lot of time, Prilla." Vidia called to her as Moonflower the swan paddled into sight. "We should get going."

Prilla trudged her way out of the water. Some of the red dust had washed away, but there was still residue. They carried the red fairy onto the swan's back, and laid her near the tail. With everyone aboard, Moonflower began the paddle to the south shore.

"You'd better stay with the red-dust fairy, Prilla." Vidia advised.

Prilla begrudgingly padded to the tail. She watched Grégoire and Vidia talking. Apart from a little wear & tear, she felt fine, but a whisper in the back of her head kept hinting that a storm was coming. The other fairies talked together for a few minutes, making occasional glances at Prilla.

"How is she doing, Prilla?" asked Grégoire. Prilla checked the bundled-up red fairy.

"Eyes closed, breathing fast and shallow." Prilla reported. The other fairies talked amongst themselves. Prilla felt left-out. She wanted to be with them, not with this sick red fairy.

Vidia turned and announced "We'll get you both to the Pictone fairy hospital, they'll take good care of you there."

It had been a long day for Prilla. She had been assaulted twice in the last half hour. She was cold, wet, tired, and she sure-as-sunshine didn't want to go to that miserable fairy hospital. She'd had enough.

"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO, YOU BOSSY PURPLE WINDBAG!" Prilla shouted.

Everyone, including the swan, turned to look at Prilla. Except Grégoire, who watched the north shore, expecting red fairies to attack.

Before Vidia could say "Prilla, I'm sorry.", Prilla was gone. Vidia suddenly realized what a stupid idea it was to go on this night mission. If only she had listened to Prilla's cautions. "This is my fault." she said to herself.

"It's not your fault, Vidia." Grégoire stated. "It's the distemper. Perhaps she's gone to the hospital by herself."

"Alright... but I need to know." Vidia looked around at the others. "You'll be okay, here?"

"Certainement. Merci beaucoup, for your help."

"I should get going." She handed him the cloak and snare-staff. "Well, it's been an adventure. Maybe we can talk about it over lunch sometime."

"Bon voyage, Vidia."

She jumped into the air, and was over the south horizon in less than a second.

* * *

.

Author's Post Note:

Oh, no! Has sweet-hearted Prilla gone rogue?

One of the tougher writing chores for me is coming up with names for new characters. So when the English word for "charnière" popped into my head, I went with it. (Charnière even sounds like a genuine French name.) In the tradition of descriptive & functional novelty names for male tinkers, I had originally made the character Charnière a sparrow-man. Then I discovered "charnière" is a _feminine_ noun. Rather than cook-up another name, I made Charnière a fairy. There are more female tinkers than male anyway, right?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.

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* * *

**The Garden of France** - Chapter 6 - Prilla's Plague

It took Vidia a few stops & starts to find the Pictone fairy village in the dark. The pixie dust in her wind-fold obscured ground details at night. The hospital had no records of any fairy arriving in the past 5 minutes. Vidia checked the local tearoom, then retrieved the carry-bags.

At this point, she decided it would be important to report-in. "Are you there, Pixie Hollow?" she asked her pendant.

"We're here, Vidia."

"Prilla is in the wind."

The communication fairy was silent for a moment. "We think she still has her pendant. Shall we contact her?"

"No! In her state, she might throw it away. Just keep an eye on her."

"Understood."

"I'm coming back. I should be there in about 45 minutes. Make sure Clarion is up, she'll want to hear this."

"We'll be expecting you."

With that, Vidia blasted into the dark sky and headed north. The cool night air stung her eyes and tore at her hair. She kept going over & over the night's events, brooding on things she could have done differently. After half an hour, she knew exactly where she was on the English south coast, and changed course for Neverland. Vidia fluttered into her Pixie Dust Tree 15 minutes later, where an attendant was waiting for her.

"This way, Vidia." The attendant guided her to the meeting room with the large map still on the table, and closed the door on the way out.

"Prilla is in trouble?" Clarion asked Vidia.

"Yes... No... Maybe."

"Please, sit down and tell me everything."

As Vidia gave her report, Clarion's gaze shifted between her and the 2 small tree carvings on the map. When Vidia finished, Clarion thought a moment. "So Prilla is low on pixie dust, and may have distemper."

"Yes." Vidia studied her queen.

"And at any time, she may come looking for more dust."

"Yes."

"Even if we post scout guards..."

"She can Apparate right past them." Vidia finished.

"We can't let her contaminate our pixie dust, and we can't let her have any, or she'll never get over the distemper..." Clarion brushed a hand to her mouth. "I think we should speak with the tinkers."

She rose, glided to the door, and instructed the attendant to "Bring me Fairy Mary... and uh, Tinker Bell immediately."

* * *

In less than 10 minutes, 2 sleepy but curious tinkers sat at the table, eyeing the large map of England and France. Vidia re-started her story.

"Wait, there are fairies in France?" Tinker Bell perked up.

"Yes." Clarion gave Tink a let-Vidia-tell-her-story look.

As Vidia's story progressed, Fairy Mary looked more worried, and Tink's eyes grew bigger. When Vidia finished, Tinker Bell dropped her face into her hands, hiding it from the others.

"We have no reason to believe Prilla is any danger." Clarion told them. "No one has died of this distemper, but we must keep Prilla away from our pixie dust." She looked to Tink, then Fairy Mary.

"Tinker Bell?" Fairy Mary spoke gently.

Tink raised her head, wiped a tear from an eye, and looked straight at Vidia. In a clear, steady voice she asked "Prilla can only jump to places she's seen before, right?"

"Right." responded Vidia.

"What if she can't recognize a place she's been to before?"

"How do you mean?"

"What if a place has totally changed?"

"I hardly think that paint and wallpaper would keep Prilla away." Fairy Mary shook her head.

"I was thinking of something more drastic," Tink kept at it, "Like, what if a place was piled full of sticks?"

"Sticks?" Clarion asked, "You want to fill the pixie dust pool with sticks?"

"The pool, the deck, the falls, catch-basins, conduits, and the Mill." Tink's suggestion reduced them to silence.

"That's a lot of sticks." Vidia commented.

"How do we get our dust?" Fairy Mary asked.

"There would be hidden passageways through the maze."

"It's a desperate project." Fairy Mary's head spun. "It would be reassuring to know if it would really work before going to the trouble..."

"That may be possible." Clarion interjected. "The Scotland fairies have a mainland-visiting-talent." She rose and glided to the door. "I'll speak with them quickly. Please wait here."

"There are fairies in Scotland?" Tink whispered to herself.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Clarion returned to the meeting room where she had left Vidia, Fairy Mary, and Tinker Bell.

"Good news, I suppose. Your pile-of-sticks idea works, Tinker Bell. The Scotland and southern Norway talents both tried it. They could see the pixie dust bag inside the pile, but were unable to get to it." Clarion smiled grimly. "Fairy Mary, I want you to work with Fairy Gary. This must be done as quickly as possible. Wake everyone, and pass the word around."

"Poor Prilla," Tink told Vidia on the way out, "I wish I could do something _for_ her, instead of _against_ her."

"How do you think _I_ feel?" Vidia said, without looking at Tink.

* * *

For the remainder of the night, the fairies of Neverland, Dachaigh Sidh, and Sørfehjem worked furiously at burying their pixie dust under sticks, lost things, old furniture and anything else they could find. The French colonies were considered safe from Prilla, as she had never seen their pixie dust supplies. As dawn approached, scout guards were placed in the 3 Pixie Dust Trees. Dust distribution was greatly encumbered, but it was expected to be only for a few days.

* * *

Prilla was wakened by the sunlight beaming into her cottage. She could have used a bit more sleep, but it was a new day, and there were duties to perform. She rolled out of bed onto her feet, but had to grab a night table to keep her balance. "_Whoa._" she thought, "_Maybe I need some breakfast._" Prilla checked her image in the dressing mirror. "Ugh. But first a shower." She picked up her shower kit and Apparated directly to the Pixie Hollow bath house.

Fairies are naturally clean & tidy, but the bath house had showers, baths, and a generous supply of hot water when things get messy. Prilla spent long minutes scrubbing at the red stains on her. The fairy soap just seemed to be too gentle. She finally gave up, towelled herself off, put on fresh clothes and dropped her shower kit at home.

Prilla's hair and wings were still wet, but she decided to get dust, then breakfast. She pictured the pixie dust poolside, and imagined herself there. Nothing happened. "_That's odd._" she thought. She tried again, with no results. She frowned "_Don't tell me I'm too low on dust._" She decided to try another location, and Apparated to the courtyard in front of the Pixie Dust Tree, which was strangely quiet. She tried for the dust pool again; no luck. "_What's going on?_" She Apparated to a branch of the Tree, overlooking the dust pool, and saw the most amazing sight: A mountain of sticks and other junk where the pixie dust pool and falls should be!

"Prilla." a scout-talent fluttered toward her with a net.

"What's going on?" asked Prilla.

"You're not well. You can't have any pixie dust." he readied his net. Prilla's wet wings couldn't fly, but she Apparated to another branch.

"She's over here!" shouted a nearby scout. "Prilla, let us take you to the healing-talents."

"I'm fine." Prilla was getting irritated with this. "I just need my pixie dust, then I'll go." the scout's net came at her. She Apparated to the courtyard, which was vacant. She decided to try for the Pixie Dust Mill; no luck. She Apparated onto the road near the Mill. The Mill seemed to be stuffed with sticks as well!

"Prilla!" shouted another nearby scout. He drifted toward her.

"_Not again._" Prilla thought. She Apparated to the back of the Mill, but the rear entrance was stuffed with more sticks.

"Prilla." another scout glided her way. "You can't have any pixie dust today."

"What's wrong with you fairies?" shouted Prilla. The exertion made her head dizzy.

"Go see the healing-talents, then you can come back." the scout hovered nearby.

Prilla had completely lost her appetite. Her head felt hot, but her body felt cold. All she wanted was some pixie dust, then she knew she'd feel better. "I know who will let me have dust." she said to herself. Prilla Apparated to the Sørfehjem courtyard in south Norway, and gaped at a huge pile of sticks tumbling out of the Pixie Dust Tree's entrance.

"I thought you were my friends!" shouted Prilla at the approaching scout-talents. Her ears were ringing. She Apparated to the courtyard before the Scottish fairies' Tree, which was over-flowing with sticks. Through the funny shapes floating in her eyes, Prilla saw more scouts, but also a friend.

"Beitris!" Prilla swayed on her feet. "Lend me some dust? Please?"

"I can't, Prilla." Beitris mournfully replied. "Go home. Let your healing-talents take care of you."

An alternate thought train in Prilla's head stepped forward with an announcement: "_I'm going to fall down._" On her way to the ground, Prilla tried to think of a safe place, and willed herself to be there.

"Where did she go?" asked the scout.

"I don't know." answered Beitris.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.

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* * *

**The Garden of France** - Chapter 7 - The Search for Prilla

Vidia, more than anyone, felt it was her responsibility to find Prilla. One of her first stops was Prilla's cottage. She found red-dust stained clothing and bedding, but most discouraging was that Prilla had left her communication pendant there. Vidia was careful not to disturb any red dust, and she marked the cottage "Danger: Red Dust" when she left.

In the days following Prilla's disappearance, Vidia spent her time meeting & talking with fairies all over Neverland and the mainland. Most of them realized this was socially demanding for Vidia, who preferred keeping to herself, so they were glad to co-operate. Vidia learned a lot about Prilla, where she went (everywhere), and who she associated with (everyone).

After watching Vidia doggedly petition tearoom customers on Prilla's whereabouts for an hour, someone off-handedly suggested that maybe she should put up signs. Vidia thought that was an excellent idea, so she went to visit Bess.

* * *

"Signs? You mean posters?" Bess tried to step back, but Vidia was fixated on this idea and didn't realize how intense she could be sometimes.

"Posters, yes!"

"How many would you need?"

Vidia did a rough calculation; 4 fairy colonies, plus camps, bases and stations... "Say... 50 to start with."

"Fifty?" Bess was alarmed. "It could take us a week to paint those!" Vidia was crushed. "We'll get started right away, of course. Come back at the end of the day, and we'll give you what we've done."

As Vidia slowly wandered to the door, Bess looked around her workshop, checking supplies for the job. Her eyes rested on a large object covered in a drop-sheet at the back wall.

"Wait!" she called to Vidia. "Help me pull this sheet off."

When the sheet was removed, the 2 fairies stood gazing at a large boxy object, with wheels, arms, springs, rollers, and plumbing all over. It looked like a tinker's idea of an art project.

"This might do the job." Bess smiled.

"What is it?" Vidia asked.

"It's a 4-color screen printer. The tinkers made it for me a while ago. I forgot it was here." Vidia couldn't believe this pile of junk would do anything but make noise. "You come back tomorrow." Bess told her.

* * *

Vidia stepped back to check the poster she had tacked up at the pixie dust concession stand in the Richmond Park fairy base. It bore a good likeness of Prilla, with a message below: _Have you seen this fairy? Contact Pixie Hollow immediately._ Vidia was pleased to find Bess had printed over 100 of the posters, and Vidia now felt she had something positive to do.

"Vidia?" came a small voice from her chest. She lifted the pendant.

"I'm here Pixie Hollow."

"Queen Clarion would like you to take Beitris to the Pictone colony. She's waiting here in Pixie Hollow."

"I'm on my way." Vidia closed her poster bag and took to the skies.

* * *

"Vidia, it's good to see you again." smiled the Scottish mainland-visiting-talent. "Any news of Prilla?"

"Not yet. What's going on?"

"Well, it seems the Armorican colony have their red-dust fairy problems under control now, and Queen Clémence is asking for help in restoring their pixie dust supply. So I've been asked to fill-in for a while."

"I see." Vidia eyed her coolly. "You know what happened there. Are you sure you want to go?"

"I've been assured it's relatively safe. Besides," Beitris gave a shy smile, "I've never flown with a fast-flyer before, and Prilla tells me you're the best."

Vidia softened at that. "Alright then, let's find Prilla's flying gear."

Along with the usual equipment, Queen Clarion provided a decorative communication plate for Queen Clémence. Vidia also brought her poster bag. They slung the carry-bags over themselves.

"Has Prilla ever taken you to the Dartmoor Fairy Camp?" Vidia asked.

"Dartmoor... Oh, aye!" Beitris perked up. "That's near the black swans."

"Good." Vidia offered her arm, which Beitris linked with. "That'll save some flying time." Beitris Apparated them to the Dartmoor Fairy Camp. Vidia took the opportunity to leave a Prilla-poster behind, then they flew a short way from the camp, where they could prepare without a lot of nosey questions. They put on the hairnets, goggles, and Vidia showed her how the tether-belts connected.

"Is this all really necessary?" Beitris wore a disbelieving half-smile.

"You tell me, when we get going." Vidia smirked. "Stay close, and fly as fast as you can. Ready? Let's head out." They climbed into the southern sky, until Vidia turned to Beitris with "Here we go." She lit-up her wind-fold and their speed increased 10 times.

Beitris was startled, even though Prilla had told her about this. Vidia followed the same course as her first trip, while Beitris marvelled at the experience. After a while, Vidia slowed when they crossed the Loire River, and dropped her wind-fold over the Pictone fairy forest.

"Vidia, that was wonderful!" Beitris beamed. "None of our fast-flyers can do that!"

"Yeah, one of these days I'll have to teach Neil how to fly."

They packed away their flying gear as they descended into the Pictone fairy village. Vidia led Beitris into the Pixie Dust Tree, and to the meeting hall in the back, where they found the 2 queens.

"The one with the crown is Queen Sophie of Pictone." Vidia advised Beitris, "The other one is Queen Clémence of Armorica. Now would be a good time to unload that crystal plate."

"Oh, aye." Beitris dug the communication plate out of her bag. The queens were much less busy today, and recognized Vidia immediately.

Vidia cleared her throat and did the best royal introduction she could manage. "This is Beitris, from... uh..."

"Dachaigh Sidh" Beitris jumped in with a bow.

"Ah, oui. The Scottish mainland-visiting-talent Clarion told us about." Clémence glowed. "Splendide."

Sophie spoke quietly to an assistant, who rushed away, while Beitris presented the crystal communication plate to Clémence. The 2 queens engaged the 2 fairies in polite conversation until the assistant returned with a fairy & sparrow-man who Vidia remembered.

"These fairies can take you to my Pixie Dust Tree." Clémence told them. "I would be grateful for any assistance or direction you can give."

* * *

"Salut, Vidia." Charnière and Édouard greeted as they walked outside. "Who is your friend?"

"Beitris of Dachaigh Sidh." the Scottish fairy smiled, "I'm a mainland-visiting-talent."

"Superbe!" Édouard was eager to get flying, but Vidia convinced them to take her to the local hospital, pixie dust depot, and tearoom, where she put up Prilla-posters. With that, Vidia's business in Pictone was concluded.

Beitris left the tinker and dust-keeper near the tearoom, with promises to return shortly. She Apparated Vidia back to the Richmond Park fairy base, and asked "How do I find your tinker shop?"

"Just follow the road west from our Pixie Dust Tree." Vidia told her. "When you reach a ditch, you're in Tinker's Nook."

"Thank you so much, Vidia. I do hope we'll fly again."

Vidia wore a small smile as Beitris vanished.

* * *

(Note: Beitris' Scottish accent temporarily restored here.)

"Push it a little to the right." called Bobble from under the cart. His bulky friend applied muscle, and the cart shifted on its chassis. "No, no, Clank. _My_ right." The cart shifted the other way.

"Pardon me, can ye till me whaur Ah micht find Tinker Bell?" came a fairy's voice near Clank.

Bobble's head snapped about to see the slim legs and tartan skirt. "_That accent!_" thought Bobble.

"Try Fairy Mary's office." Clank answered.

"Thenk ye." and the fairy fluttered off as Bobble scrambled out from under the cart.

"Who is _that_?" Bobble wondered, as they watched the fairy's receding wings.

* * *

"You must be Beitris." Fairy Mary gave her a warm smile. "Welcome to Pixie Hollow."

"Yes ma'am. Thank you."

"Now Tinker Bell, do be careful." Mary pushed her motherly advice, "Don't touch any of that red dust, and I want you on your best behavior. You're a Neverland tinker."

"Don't worry, Fairy Mary." Tink chuckled as she got up from the chair. "I'll be okay."

"Are you ready to go?" asked Beitris, her hand out.

"Ready." Tink linked arms with Beitris, and they vanished.

Fairy Mary sighed, and fluttered out to the shop, looking for slow-moving tinkers to badger.

* * *

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Author's Post Note:

I thought about using fairy-Lizzy as the stand-in for Prilla, but I think this story pre-dates Lizzy's Arrival (see my first story "Lizzy's Sunset"). Don't worry, I have ideas for a Wisp/Lizzy story later.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.

Author's Note: Hang on to your thinking cap! There are fairy science lessons coming up.

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* * *

**The Garden of France** - Chapter 8 - Clochette the Consultant

Beitris and Tinker Bell Apparated into the Pictone village before the Pixie Dust Tree. Tink twirled to take it all in.

"Wow." Tink gasped, "I can't believe it. We're in France?"

"Aye. Isn't it wonderful? I'll take you to our associates." Beitris led Tink to the local tearoom, where the Armorican tinker and dust-keeper were waiting.

After a round of introductions, Charnière suggested "Since we are here, would you like some lunch?" Everyone agreed, so they found seats inside the tearoom.

Tinker Bell didn't know what French fairies ate, so she just told the serving-talent, "Surprise me." She was not disappointed. The food was different than Dulsie's, but very tasty.

Part way through the meal, while Édouard was explaining the red-dust problem, they heard a crash of kitchen doors behind Tinker Bell. There, hovered a cooking-talent with a tray of dishes at her shoulder, scanning the dining room.

Charnière looked startled and whispered "Zut alors! C'est Mélissa.", as the cooking-talent glided toward them...

* * *

After lunch, the 4 fairies flew to the Armorican village, where clean-up was under way. Large wash tubs were set up in the main square, and each building & cottage was being systematically stripped of contents for cleaning.

"As you can see," Édouard explained, "We are making some progress, but we do not know what to do with our pixie dust supply."

"You will probably want to see for yourself." Charnière led them to racks of protective suits. "You both look like smalls." she said to Tink and Beitiris, handing a suit to each of them. Tink checked the suit as she pulled it on. Light-weight but tightly woven fabric, attached boots & gloves, and enough room for tucked-down wings inside the back. A thin glass face-plate was glued to the hood, and the openings had double seals to keep dust out.

When they were all suited-up, they trudged their way into the main lobby of the Pixie Dust Tree. Tink and Beitris stood for a moment, taking in the clutter and rubble. A wave of sadness filled them for the center of this fairy community, then they saw the massive cone-like growth, glowing with evil redness.

"What is _that_?" Tink asked in concern.

"That is our pixie dust." Édouard disclosed, his voice slightly muffled by the suit.

Tinker Bell marched over to the base of the cone and gazed up at it. The growth was over 20 feet high, and filled most of the floor space to the walls. "_Terence would have fits._" she thought. She gave the cone base a light kick. "You know pixie dust in large quantities must be kept in motion, right? Otherwise it hardens like concrete."

"I know." Édouard sounded discouraged. "Our colony was ill."

They looked toward the peak again. "The source is up there. Have you seen it?"

"Non."

"I think we should have a look." Tink prompted.

"I shall get ropes." called Charnière, and trotted to the entrance. She was back moments later with ropes, climbing pitons, and hammers.

The 4 fairies began their scale of the huge red growth. Climbing in the protective suits was awkward, but they had plenty of rough surface in the hardened pixie dust to grip. The 2 tinkers hammered-in pitons at regular intervals, and looped their rope through the rings. About 20 minutes later, they were at the top, which was almost level. Édouard found the pixie dust outlet practically buried in soft red dust, a pathetic golden trickle of its normal flow.

"That's a good sign, isn't it?" Tink asked.

"Oui!" Édouard sounded happier. "It means the Tree is still well."

Charnière hammered a new set of pitons into the top of the pixie dust mass, tied ropes on, and flung the ends over the side. The fairies then quickly rappelled to the floor again. Tinker Bell squatted and brushed some of the red dust with her glove.

"It's sticky." she observed. "Why is it _red_?"

"Evil magic?" Charnière offered.

"You don't really believe that." Tink glanced at her.

"Non."

Tink picked up a leaf from the floor, sprinkled a pinch of the red dust onto it, then carefully folded the leaf up into a small, secure package. Outside, laundry fairies with gloves cautiously pulled the protective suits off them for immediate cleaning. The group stood in the square, staring at the Pixie Dust Tree and stretching their wings.

"Well." Tink stated, "You sure have a mess there."

"We sure do." Charnière admitted.

"Can you help us?" asked Édouard.

"Maybe." Tink brushed her fingers through her bangs for a moment, then turned to Beitris. "Can you move a piece of equipment?"

"How big?"

"Bigger than a fairy, smaller than a cart. It's in my tinker shop."

"Aye, I've done that."

Tink gave the red-dust sample to Édouard for safe-keeping, then offered her arm to Beitris. "We'll be back shortly!" she told the pair, as the fairies vanished.

"We need one of those mainland-visiting-talents." Charnière suggested to her friend.

* * *

Beitris appeared moments later, her arms around a bulky object. She immediately vanished, and re-appeared with Tinker Bell on her arm. Tink smiled at Charnière, who was nosing about the object.

"You're a tinker," Tink grinned, "Tell me what this is."

Charnière examined the cast metal base, the work-table at fairy waist-height, the mirror system below it, and the lens system above. "It's a magnifying device."

"A microscope." confirmed Tink. "Based on human microscope designs, but this has a folded optical path so a fairy can stand in front and work on the sample table, while watching the eye-piece." She turned controls under the table to collect light from the mirrors, then pulled a glass slide out of a lower drawer, and asked Édouard for a bit of pixie dust. Tink pushed the slide onto the table, asking "Ever seen pixie dust up-close?"

"Non." Édouard admitted.

Tink adjusted the controls for a dark field and focused the image at 10-times power. The group crowded around the human-sized eye-piece. "It looks a bit like golden snow-flakes, or broken glass." Tink went to 20-power, then 50, then 100. "Notice the recursive self-similar structure." she told them, "The tiny features look the same as the large features, when you zoom in." (Tink is talking about fractals, a word that wouldn't exist until the mid-1970s.)

She went to 200-power, then 500. "Pixie dust is partly crystal, partly organic, and partly something else. Here it is with the polarizing filter." Tink flipped a lever, but the image of golden snow-flakes looked much the same. "Now watch what happens when I crank the strobe wheel." As she increased her crank speed, rainbow colors played over the crystal image, until she reached a particular speed where the colors shook.

"It's vibrating!" Charnière cried.

"Very interesting stuff, pixie dust." Tink smiled intriguingly, as she reset the controls. "A dust-keeper friend of mine spent _days_ looking at it when we first built this microscope." She pulled out the glass slide and wiped it clean. "Now where's that red dust?"

Édouard carefully opened the leaf packet, and sprinkled the red dust onto the slide. Tink once again began at 10-power, and stepped up. At 200, she moved the sample image to a thinner section, noticing some clumps on the pixie dust.

At 1000-power she cried "Ah-ha! See that?"

"What are we looking at?" Édouard inquired.

"Bacteria." She selected 1500-power, the highest on the instrument. They watched reddish-brown blobs slowly wiggling over the golden crystal. "They seem to like your pixie dust. Now we know what we're dealing with. You might want to let your healing-talents know."

"So we're going to need a lot of fairy soap." Édouard decided.

"Not so fast." Tink declared. "Even fairy laundry soap is too slow for this job. You need to plan ahead, too. You'll need a large, temporary container to safely store clean dust in. Something like a pond."

"The tinkers and miners can build that." Charnière said, excitedly.

"Once that's ready, you'll need to pull apart the conduits and Pixie Dust Mill. Might as well use the Tree's main lobby for cleaning. When the Mill is back together and connected to your temporary pond, then you can start on the pile inside the Tree."

"How do we keep the lobby space clean?" Édouard asked.

"There's more than one way to kill bacteria." Tink gave a sly grin. "Can you get me a lightning-talent, a water-talent, and a fast-flyer?"

* * *

Minutes later, Tinker Bell was hovering over an upper entrance to the Pixie Dust Tree lobby, with the 3 talents she requested. Beitris and Édouard hovered nearby, while Charnière was busy relaying tasks to the tinkers and miner-talents.

"Today, we're going to be making ozone." Tink announced, with an enthusiastic smile. "_You_ create the ball-lightning." she said to the lightning-talent. "_You_ keep water vapor away from the lightning, so it doesn't make nitric acid." she said to the water-talent. "And _you_ collect the ozone, and gently blow it into the Tree's lobby." she said to the fast-flyer.

Tink left the 3 fairies happily to their tasks, as others fluttered up and copied them. "Next, we'll need light-talents."

* * *

The light-talents gathered about Tinker Bell, eager for something useful to do.

"All of you can turn sunlight into rainbows, right?" Tink asked them. She got a round of "Oui"s. "How many of you know there is invisible light beyond the red, and also beyond the violet?"

"We can see it." one of them spoke up, and the others nodded.

"Good. Beyond the red is called infra-red, which can be used for cooking. Beyond the violet is ultraviolet, which can be used for sterilizing and bleaching. That will be your job; to cook and bleach the bacteria on the parts the dust-keepers and tinkers will bring into the Tree's lobby."

The light-talents giggled and chattered amongst themselves as they fluttered to the Pixie Dust Tree. It took them a bit of tuning, but they soon had the inside lobby glowing with a hot, blue-white light.

* * *

Tinker Bell and Beitris flew to check on the temporary pond. It was progressing well, so Tink suggested to Charnière it was time to start dismantling the Pixie Dust Mill for cleaning.

"You should use some of the ozone teams and light-talents at the Mill. We could also use some type of _wet_ disinfectant." She thought of possible liquids:

"Fairy soap? Too weak."

"Herbal antiseptics? Too messy."

"Alcohol? Too flammable."

"Sodium hypochlorite bleach? An environmental hazard in the quantities we need."

"Hydrogen peroxide?" Tink's eyebrows rose.

"That could work." Tink said to herself, but then she thought of the process involved in producing hydrogen peroxide; certainly beyond the present capabilities of a fairy colony. "Maybe we could purchase it from humans...", but then she remembered the problems & delays in dealing with humans. It could be weeks before the peroxide arrived. Which brought her back to option 1 again: Making the peroxide on-site.

"Too bad." she grumbled to Charnière, "It's such a simple molecule. Why, it's practically water." Tink's face went blank. "...practically water." Tinker Bell slowly smiled, and looked at Charnière. "Get me a water-talent, a dust-keeper, and a large glass basin of water. I'll be back in a minute."

* * *

When Tinker Bell returned to Charnière and Beitris, she had in each hand a large pea, with a pair of small blueberries stuck to each pea. She spoke to the dust-keeper and water-talent.

"I don't know if this will work, but we're going to try." She looked at the dust-keeper. "I'd like you to drop some pixie dust into the water, and slowly stir it with a stick." Then she asked the water-talent, "Did you know that water is made of hydrogen and oxygen atoms?" She held up the objects in her hands. "This what water looks like. The pea is the oxygen, and the blueberries are the hydrogen, all floating in the bowl." Tink waved them around convincingly.

"Here's what I'd like you to try: Using the pixie dust as a catalyst, pull one hydrogen atom off of 2 water molecules, and throw them away." She removed a blueberry from each of her props and dropped them. "Then stick the 2 oxygen atoms together." Tink stuck the peas together.

Once they got set up, the water-talent dipped her fingers into the water, as the dust-keeper stirred. At first, nothing happened. The water-talent closed her eyes and focused harder. Tiny fizzy bubbles appeared in the swirling water, and floated to the surface.

"I think it's working." whispered Tink to Beitris and Charnière. The water became cloudy with tiny bubbles as minutes passed.

"The water is getting colder." mentioned the water-talent.

"Yes, it'll do that." replied Tink.

"This stick is turning white." noted the dust-keeper, lifting it for them to see.

"Congratulations," Tink beamed, "You're making hydrogen peroxide!"

More water-talents joined in the peroxide production, which was used for sterilizing and soaking parts.

* * *

As the days passed, Tinker Bell's and Beitris' help was needed less and less. They returned to their own colonies, proud to have served the Armorican fairies.

* * *

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Author's Post Note:

"Clochette" is the French name for Tinker Bell.

Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit dry. Tinker Bell had a lot of explaining to do.

If you're interested: The reason why Tink's microscope is human-sized (instead of fairy-sized) is a laws-of-physics thing. Larger lenses collect more light, long focal lengths are easier to focus, and a fairy-sized microscope would have to be built with a degree-of-magnitude more precision.  
-Not that tinkers couldn't do it...

Next: What happened to Prilla?


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.

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* * *

**The Garden of France** - Chapter 9 - Prilla's Recovery

Prilla woke in a strange bed, in a strange room. Her legs hurt. Her arms hurt. Her face and hair hurt. Even her _wings_ hurt. She drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Prilla tore at the sticks blocking the entrance to the Pixie Dust Tree, and flung them behind her.

"Look at the mess you've made!" she cried to the missing fairies of Pixie Hollow. "How is anyone supposed to get pixie dust?" She could see the golden dust pool & falls through the gaps in the sticks, but the more she removed, the more of them cluttered the entrance-way.

"No pixie dust for _you_, Prilla." came a familiar voice. She turned to see Tinker Bell and the gang, covered in red dust, gliding toward her with nets. Prilla backed away from the gang, but bumped into someone behind her. She turned around, and was face-to-face with a red-dust Vidia.

"Come on, guys." Vidia gave a sinister leer, "We can find some dust for Prilla, can't we?" Several nets dropped over Prilla, and Vidia pushed her to the ground.

Terence, covered in red dust, floated up with a huge chalis. "Here's _your_ pixie dust, Prilla." he grinned. Red dust showered from the cup, through the nets, and onto Prilla.

"No!" Prilla struggled with all her might. "No!"

Prilla woke from the nightmare. Somehow, she had managed to get her bed-sheet bound about her. She continued to struggle and wriggle until her upper body was free. She tried to stay awake, but the efforts had exhausted her. Her eyelids became heavy and she soon drifted into sleep.

* * *

Prilla woke, curled into a ball, shivering and moaning. Someone slid a huge, mattress-sized hot water bottle under her bed. The glow from the rubber bottle quickly warmed Prilla, and she floated back to sleep.

* * *

Prilla woke up with a raging thirst. Beside her bed was a glass bucket almost big enough for a fairy to bathe in. It was full of water, and had several cut grass stems rising from it - drinking straws for fairies. Prilla seized one and drank & drank until her stomach hurt. She gave an unladylike belch, and flopped back onto her pillow.

She studied the ceiling and walls. The place was decorated, but shabbily, as if by giants. Prilla turned her head and got a surprise; one entire wall was missing! Beyond the missing wall was another, much larger giant's room. She pondered this for a while, and was asleep again.

* * *

"Good morning, Prilla."

Prilla opened her eyes. An 8-year-old human girl's face floated nearby. "_Katie!_" she thought, "_I'm in Katie's room!_"

"How are you feeling?" Prilla smiled weakly, closed her eyes momentarily, and shook her head "no". "Oh, poor dear. Can I get you some milk & honey?" Prilla thought for a bit, then shook her head "yes".

Prilla dozed until Katie returned with a small glass of milk and a fairy straw. She propped herself up and tried the concoction. Hmm. Cow milk. Watery, and she could taste the grass. Not as rich as Neverland mouse milk, but the honey was good. Prilla drank enough to satisfy herself, then said "Thank you." to Katie.

Prilla hand-signed for writing paper. Katie retrieved a scrap of paper and a tiny pencil. Prilla wrote "_How long?_"

"How long have you been here?" Katie asked. Prilla nodded. "This is the fourth day."

"_Four days!_" thought Prilla, "_They could be missing me._" She reached for her communication pendant, but it was gone. She leaned back into her pillow and considered her situation. She really was cut-off, but at least safe, and with a friend to nurse her.

"I'll let you get some more rest." Katie decided. Prilla smiled wearily at her and closed her eyes.

* * *

Prilla woke some time later feeling more rested and even a bit hungry. The thought of laying in bed made her itchy, so she got up to walk around. "_This must be Katie's doll-house._" she thought. "_I've seen it from outside, but never been in it._" She explored the rooms of the dollhouse for a while, imagining the changes she would make if it were her house.

"Prilla!" Katie walked up and smiled, "You're feeling better?" Prilla nodded. "Would you like a pear or peach for breakfast?" Prilla thought that would be fine, so Katie disappeared for a short time.

When Katie returned, she had a pear, a peach, and a small knife on a dinner plate. Prilla walked to the dollhouse dining room and sat at the table while Katie quickly cut some pear & peach into bite-size slices for Prilla.

"I found you laying on my play table 5 days ago." Katie indicated the table at which she & Prilla had spent many visits. "I thought the worst." Katie looked distressed as she served Prilla the fruit slices on a doll-sized plate. "But then I saw you were breathing, so I shifted you to the doll-house bed." She nibbled on the surplus fruit. "I tried my best to nurse you."

"You did great." Prilla smiled at her. She enjoyed the fruit. This was just the sort of soft, safe food her stomach needed. When she had enough, she signed to Katie for the writing paper. "_I should be getting home. Can you take me to your local park?_" Prilla wrote.

"Of course. Your friends must be missing you." Katie put on a light jacket with breast pockets, and carefully transferred Prilla into one of the pockets. She let her mother know where she was going, and that she'd be back in a little while.

It was only a 10-minute walk to the nearby park. As Katie entered, she asked "Are there really fairies is this park?" Prilla giggled and nodded "yes". Prilla directed Katie to a remote area of the park, with no flower beds and more undergrowth. When they reached a wooded area near a brook, Prilla pointed to one of the tallest trees. Katie stopped before the tree, and Prilla signed she would like to stand on Katie's open palms.

Prilla held onto one of Katie's thumbs for support. They both looked up into the tree, and Prilla yelled "Hello up there! Anybody home?" They waited for most of a minute. "Knock, knock. Anybody home?" she added.

"Prilla?" came a voice from the tree trunk near them, where a sparrow-man scout peeked around.

"It's me." Prilla confirmed. The scout cautiously approached, eyes flicking between Prilla and the human girl. Prilla signed to Katie she'd like to be set down, which Katie did, then kneeled in the leaves and watched.

"Everyone's been looking for you." He looked up the tree and beckoned. A group of fairies slowly descended.

"Katie took care of me, and I'm back."

"Uhm... Prilla, do you mind?" he asked shyly, while unclipping his net from his belt.

"Mind what?" The scout gently tossed his net over Prilla's head. "What's this?" both Prilla and Katie looked confused.

The scout bashfully revealed "My friends bet me that I couldn't catch you with my net."

Prilla burst into laughter as the scout carefully pulled his net from her. "You win. I give up." chuckled Prilla, "You're just too wily for me."

"Let's have a look at you, now." a healing-talent approached Prilla, pulling on thin gloves. She checked Prilla's nose, armpits, ears and hair. "Well, you appear to be free of red dust. How do you feel?"

"Hungry. As soon as I get some pixie dust, I'm heading for Dulsie's." The scout and healer reached to give her a lift up the tree, but Prilla said "Wait.", and turned to Katie with open arms. Katie understood, and picked her up. Prilla gave Katie's cheek a hug, and the biggest fairy kiss she could. "Thank you for everything, Katie. You can win at draughts (checkers) from now on." When Katie set Prilla down, the scout and healer each grabbed an arm and lifted Prilla into the air, as Katie waved goodbye.

* * *

Prilla stood in front of the fairy station's pixie dust concession, staring at her poster. "What's this?"

"Oh, Vidia put that up, days ago." the dustkeeper declared. "She's been flying all over England, looking for you."

"Really." a smile slowly grew on Prilla's face.

* * *

It was difficult for Prilla to talk & eat at the same time, but she couldn't complain. She was home, eating fairy food, and surrounded by friends. Tinker Bell and Rosetta sat across from her, and Silvermist, Iridessa, and Fawn sat next to her.

"I just want to say: Sorry if I was grouchy to anyone." Prilla glanced around at them.

"Nothing to apologize for." said Iridessa, "I don't think any of us has had distemper." She looked questioningly at the others.

"Except maybe Tink." Rosetta grinned. "She turns red and yells." Everyone chuckled at that.

"What are you doing with one of those?" Prilla eyed the communication pendant Tinker Bell was wearing.

"Oh, uh..." Tink reached for the pendant and glanced down at it, "Fixing problems in Armorica. I'm still on-call." She kept her answer deliberately cryptic, as most Neverland fairies were not supposed to know about other colonies.

"What's Armorica?" asked Rosetta.

"How are they doing?" Prilla ignored the question.

"Last report, the red dust was cleaned up, and they're slowly grinding through their solid pixie dust."

"That's good to hear." Prilla gave a sly smile, "Did you get to meet Mélissa?"

"Oh, yeah." Tink mirrored Prilla's smile.

"What did you think?"

"Quite ...uh... physical, but definitely worthwhile."

"Who's Mélissa?" asked Rosetta.

Prilla leaned across the table to Tinker Bell. "We can NOT tell Dulsie." Tink nodded in solemn agreement.

"Tell her what?" asked Rosetta. A purple blur and gust of breeze disturbed the tearoom's quiet atmosphere.

"Where have _you_ been?!" Vidia stood next to Tinker Bell, hands on her hips and glaring at Prilla.

"I'm glad to see you too, Vidia." Prilla smiled innocently at her.

"Well, is that the time?" Tink jumped to her feet, quickly followed by Silvermist, then Fawn. "We'd better get going." Tink grabbed Rosetta's arm and pulled her out of her seat.

"Tink!" Rosetta protested, "What are you doing?"

"Time to go. Help me, Sil." Tink towed Rosetta toward the exit, as Silvermist lifted Iridessa up and guided her on the same path. "There's work to be done."

"No, I want to hear this!" Rosetta complained.

"Don't make me drag you by your wings." was the last Prilla heard of Tinker Bell, as Iridessa, Silvermist and Fawn scuttled out. Vidia relaxed and sat down facing Prilla.

"I heard you tore the country apart, looking for me." Prilla smiled warmly.

"Don't flatter yourself, darling. I was merely trying to recover a valuable Pixie Hollow asset." Vidia's usual coolness wasn't working on Prilla.

"It almost seems like you care about me."

"Never mind that. There's something else we need to discuss:" Vidia paused as Prilla smiled benignly. "...Bossy purple windbag?"

Prilla cringed and blushed. She knew she'd never hear the end of that.

* * *

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End file.
